DEREK McInnes insists his old club, St Johnstone, are the benchmark for resurgent Aberdeen.

The Dons boss heads back to McDiarmid Park tomorrow for the first time since leaving to join Bristol City in October 2011.

McInnes has been delighted to see successors Steve Lomas and Tommy Wright build on the foundations he laid and continue the super Saints’ success story.

But he knows the progress in Perth has left his Aberdeen outfit playing catch up.

The Dons have been toiling in the bottom half of the league in recent years while St Johnstone have been top-six regulars and Euro contenders.

McInnes is out to topple his old team tomorrow - and knock them off their Premiership perch.

He said: “I’m going back to a club I have a lot of fondness for after many good times there and I genuinely like to see them do well.

“They’re a team that has finished in the European places in the last couple of years while we’ve finished in the bottom six.

“They are ahead of us in that sense that they have a bit of experience of being at the top end of the table and the stability that brings.

“We’re working towards that and they have a good home record so we will have to play well to get a positive result there.

“St Johnstone look like they are a team that can be around the top half of the league again which is credit to them.

“If we can finish above St Johnstone this season, it will be an indication that we have done well. Its a smaller club than Aberdeen but it’s a club with a big heart and with a lot of good people. I’m delighted to see them do so well.”

McInnes can take pride in the job he did at Perth. After taking over from Owen Coyle in 2007, he led the Saints back to the top flight and kept them there at the first attempt.

Several of the squad he assembled are still at the club and he admitted he has nothing but praise for the way Saints go about their business.

He said: “I’m pleased to have played a part in that but a lot more than me have played a part in getting them to where they are now.

“The club have done a lot of good things in the last few years and they have had their rewards for that on the pitch.

“They appreciate where they are at the minute because they have a team that can compete with anyone in the country. They have always tried to support their managers and the good thing about working with Geoff Brown (former chairman) was he didn’t mess about.

“There were a lot of deals we missed out on because it was a step too far for us financially which was difficult at times for me as the manager.

“But that was because he knew what had to be done for the club to break even and what wouldn’t work for them.

“I will be forever grateful for the help I got from him and Stewart Duff and the grounding I got as a manager.”

McInnes is confident his side can make it a happy return for their boss but he knows just what to expect from the Saints. He’s also well aware his Dons will need to keep star man Stevie May quiet if they are to head back up the A90 unscathed.

McInnes is not surprised the 20-year-old hitman has a host of English clubs on his trail after singling out the striker as the real deal when he was just a kid.

The Dons gaffer said: “Anybody who is scoring goals on a regular basis is always on the radar of other clubs.

“That’s especially the case if it’s a young player and Stevie definitely has the potential to get better. The biggest thing about Stevie is his self-confidence because that’s important.

“He has a lot going for him but if there is anything that he lacks then it is certainly not confidence. He backs himself to do well against whoever he comes up against.

“I saw that right from when I was the reserve manager at St Johnstone.

“Stevie was one of the players that I promoted from the youth team because you always felt he had a goal in him.

“There was a belief in the boy that he would deliver and he has carried that through now to the way he plays for the top team.

“I think that any striker who is playing with that sort of confidence has really got to be watched.”

The same two sides will meet in the League Cup semi-finals next February but right now that clash couldn’t be further from McInnes’s mind.

He just wants to get back up and running in the league after back-to-back defeats by Hearts and Celtic.

McInnes said: “It’s good to get back to league business. There’s not many tougher games in the Premiership than St Johnstone away but it’s a game we feel can be won.”